Oh, but there's trees, too!

These are the last (probably) of my Lake Onondaga posts. When I see this one, I wanna say, "Everybody streeeetch!" *snickers*

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Same trees, different angle.

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Backyard Exploring

Yeah... more flowers- what's it to ya?

I like to wander about my yard, trying to see what looks interesting. Apparently, my neighbors' tiger lillies decided they wanted to come play over on our side of the fence- a few seeds having made the journey and planted themselves beside our tomatoes. At least they'll have some company. :)

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Hell, even weeds can be pretty. Well, I think they're weeds... they dwell amongst the plethora of various, wildly growing flora all over our property.

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For this one, I had to lean over my neighbors fence. As long as they don't think I'm taking pics to case their house, all should be well. :P I'm assuming it's some type of lily, but my ability to peg types of flowers is quite lean.

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Cloud Lake

Yes, yes... it's more from Lake Onondaga. What can I say? I was shutter happy that week.

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I toldja clouds were my latest obsession.

My best friend

This is my gorgeous best friend (back off, fellas- she's married) whom I went to go see up in Liverpool.

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Yes, that's black patent leather...... we were playing dress up. ;) I stuck her in all sorts of positions to get some *ahem* classy shots. Take that however you wish to. Muahaha!

S.. I love ya and I can't wait to visit again. I was all sniffly onna bus, but I put on some tunes and staved them back. Even though I was there for a week and a half, it wasn't long enough.

The Park

This is another picture from the park in Syracuse on Lake Onondaga. The only major edit I did to this was to get rid of a picnicking family on the grass in the distance. To said family: nothing personal, but you got in da way of mah shot. :P

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Have I mentioned how much I love PhotoShop? I've been using it since I was thirteen (I'm now twenty-six) and it never ceases to amaze me.

Pale Petals

I have no idea what kinda flowers these are, but this is another shot I took while in upstate NY while on vacation. My best friend's neighbor had a few flower pots hanging outside and I just couldn't help myself. I just loved the color of these blooms.

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Like I've said before, I'm really not a girly-girl that wanders about going for flowers and moonbeams, but c'mon- this is just so pretty. I'm a jeans 'n t-shirt wearing metal chick, who curses like a sailor (sometimes), loves macabre imagery, and all sorts of other fun, unsavory stuff, but nature- pure and simple- just boggles my mind. Also, flowers don't complain if you don't get them in the right light... they stay still and let me take my time; heh.

Sun on the lake

I just got back from a week and a half long vacation from my best friend's up in Liverpool (near Syracuse), NY. While there, I had the pleasure of going to a park nearby that was right on Lake Onondaga. It was late in the day, mebbe around 7 pm or so, and I was lucky enough to get this shot. I'm obsessed with clouds, lately and I think this is my favorite picture I've taken so far.

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Mmm... beads.

I think I took this the same week I played with nail polish. It just about rained the whole week and I was getting a bit of cabin fever.

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I like taking pictures at odd or interesting angles to see what kinda stuff I can get. This was the only decent one out of a batch of over 40 images. A shame that the best one came of the most boring beads I own. You should see my, ah, collection. I'm an utter craft maven, so I have tons of sundries abound in my home. Just wait till I start taking pics of my crochet projects. ;)

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Since I posted about the little house, I might as well post about my grandmother's rose bush. When the little house was being built, my grandmother received a rose bush as a sort of house warming present (if I recall the story correctly), which they planted right out front. I'm not quite sure who it was a gift from, as my mother doesn't remember. Mebbe my aunt will- I'll have to ask her.

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When the little house was demolished, we had to make sure we saved the rose bush, since it had flowered beautifully every year since it's planting. Since roses are so picky and usually need careful attention, I call it the 'enchanted rose' for it's lack of needing to be tended to or pruned to produce such lovely blooms.

With my grandmother gone, now, it's like having a little bit of her blooming every year. Sappy, yeah- but that's all right. :)

Eye See You

[ This post was originally on another blog I was keeping on 6/07/07. ]

Once again, another rainy day has kept me inside to take pictures of random household items. This time? It's not just any ol' item. It's me. Well, more specifically, my eye.

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What can I say, I was bored. Again.

The "Little House"

[ This post was originally on another blog I was keeping on 6/03/07. ]

Back in the '50s, my grandparents built their home, here, on this street... as did my grandmother's brothers and sisters- all in a row. I dunno whose home came first, but our yard is technically two properties: one for the small, 'temporary' house for the family to live in while they built the other, and a larger one where the main house now sits.

This is the 'little house'.

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Taken in '05, after the season's first snowfall @ dawn.

Er, was the 'little house'. 'Tis no longer.

We had to tear it down 'cause apparently, it was an eyesore. An eyesore? To who? If ya ask me, it looks like a cute little cottage in the middle of a wooded area- not something you'd find in a fairly metropolitan area such as this. Actually, I think it was adorable, dammit. But alas, one of our yenta neighbors called the township so many times that they came out to inspect it.

It was really a glorified storage unit/bicycle garage, for a while. The roof had been chewed by squirrels, and the entire thing was being engulfed in ivy. Because it was falling apart, though, we were told to either fix it or get rid of it. So we did- we tore it down. *sniffsniff* My mother, my uncle, aunt, and mom's ex all worked on breaking the structure into bits and now, the spot where the house stood is an overgrown area of weeds, ivy, and bunnies. Lots of bunnies (yay bunnies!). If you ask me, the lack of any structure there looks worse than it did when it was, apparently, an 'eyesore'. Damn neighbors.

It was always a dream of mine to fix it up and call that my home. It'd be like my own little house, but under the family's umbrella of safety and, well, it woulda been a LOT cheaper to live in than any apartment in this area. My mom and her brothers (my aunt wasn't born yet) grew up in that tiny little home, then it eventually became my great grandmother's house until she passed away. My mother and uncle both lived in that house, separately, as well- it was like a stop on the road to real life. The coming of age child who desperately needed their own space, but wanted to be near mom and dad, could head in there and feel like they had their own li'l pad- but close to home. VERY close to home. Like, a few yards. Heh. My cousins even lived in there for many years until they eventually bought their own home a few towns away.

If walls could talk, I'd bet those walls woulda been utter chatter boxes... and I woulda loved to listen to all the stories.

NJ Sunshine

[ This post was originally on another blog I was keeping on 6/03/07. ]

See, people? The sun does shine in the state of New Jersey...

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... contrary to popular belief.

This was taken a year or so ago, I believe- and I was standing on my front porch. At last I didn't have to go far for the view.

Playing with nail polish

[ This post was originally on another blog I was keeping on 6/02/07. ]

When it's raining outside and there ain't any cute doggies or pink flowers, there's always nail polish... muahaha. (Yes, I was very, VERY bored.)

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This is a grown woman's version of finger painting. *grins*

I have this bad, bad habit of walking into drug stores and buying a buncha bottles of nail polish, simply 'cause I fall in love with the colors. I never have any actual intention of using 'em for their rightful purpose, but they come in handy... apparently. *chuckles*

Da Coco monster!

[ This post was originally on another blog I was keeping on 5/26/07. ]

This is Coco.

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While unfortunately, she's not /my/ dog, but she is for the weekend while my cousin is away. Ain't she cute? Amazingly, this shot was the first one I took of her- can we say total ham? She's such a good photo subject... 'specially when ya got cheese. *snickers*

Classic Pink

[ This post was originally on another blog I was keeping on 5/24/07. ]

I've been reading this blog, lately, and it inspired me to pick up my digital camera and go wandering around the neighborhood to take some photos. So I did. And here's my result:

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Now, I'm not the usual girly froo-froo type to go around snapping photos of pink flowers. In fact, I hate the color pink. But that's all right, 'cause there's just something so classic about this particular shot. I like it. If you don't, screw yourself. :P Even though it looks big, the bud of the flower was under a half inch across. Zoom is mah friend. :D I don't, however, quite know what it is... it's off of a bush in my front yard. It may be a geranium, but don't quote me on that.

A little disclaimer, here. I am, by no means, a photographer- I have a (somewhat) dinky digital camera and have rarely taken photos of anything other than silly shit to send to my best friend. I don't even know how to use the settings ON said camera -- I just point, click, and see what button/menu item does what. I've tried reading up on the basics of photography, but all the terms and numerical values just makes my head hurt. I just go with the flow.

The beginning...

Well, I guess this is my inaugural post. To keep it short and simple, this is where I'll be dumping my photos- sometimes with backstory, sometimes just 'cause. I've just begun to really try to get to know my camera and started posting my images on my MySpace. Eventually, I decided I was just gonna make a photo only blog.

I don't use fancy schmancy equipment, lighting, or anything of the sort (unless you count what I've pegged my 'Ghetto Pod' [ instructions here ] as fancy). When I got my camera, I used it to simple take stupid pics of random things for my best friend. It cost me around $180, when I bought it new.

This is my camera:

A Canon PowerShot A75. Ain't she puuuuuurdy? *makes doe eyes* No, she's not some high end digital SLR or anything, but she packs a wallop. I'm an electronics geek- totally, but I never get anything above what I think I'd need. Want? Sure.. I want a high end camera with a buncha telephoto and macro lenses, but I don't need it. ;)

I need to name her.... any suggestions? :D